Two years ago I bought a 68 350. I was told it was a matching numbers car and that everything was factory that came with the car, accept the paint, intake and the carb (changed to a 4 bbl) Over the past two years now I have found a few things that are not what they should be. For one, the bench seat is NOT from a 68 firebird. I'm now starting to question everything else about the car. Last week I changed the fuel pump and when it came time to put grease on the push rod to hold it in the "up" position, there wasn't a push rod to hold up. Everything I have read about changing a fuel pump on a 1968 Pontiac 350 says there should be a push rod. That seemed strange to me so I though I'll just check the VIN number on the engine and make sure it matches, Well I don't see any numbers at all where they should be. I believe the engine VIN number should be lower front passenger side of the engine by the timing chain cover. I don’t see a number there at all unless I have to remove the lower radiator hose to see it. Do I need to remove the hose? Any help from anyone?
I was able to get the partial vin by "blindly" scraping away the paint with a razor blade on the block behind the lower radiator hose. I used a mirror and flashlight to check my progress. When it looked like I scraped enough paint away, I was able to take a pic by holding and pointing the camera lens in the vicinity of the partial vin (it took me a couple of tries but I finally got a good pic). This method was a PITA. It's definitely easier to remove the lower rad hose, but I would bet you would still need to scrape away some paint to read the partial vin. But at least you won't be doing it without any visibility.
